Can You Handle It?

THE TRADITIONALS - The commodity currencies have been moving this week and the price action makes sense. For one thing, commodity prices are rallying. The other thing about the moves that make them easier to reconcile is the fact that unlike the major pairs, the commodity currencies aren't trading in the middle of ranges far off from getting broken. That is to say, while the Euro, Pound, and Yen are further away from levels that would need to be broken to make any impact on the outlook, the commodity currencies haven't been or aren't in ranges that can't get broken. So Aussie and Kiwi have been rallying for days now and are simply pushing those recoveries. They haven't needed to worry because the trend has been clear there. And even the Canadian Dollar, which had been confined to a range, wasn't far enough away from the range extremes to have it preferring to sit still. But as I've said, trends do like to push into year end and I wouldn't rule out big moves between now and Friday's close.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR - OK...so let's get back over to bitcoin and blockchain and talk a little bit about why I love these markets. It's really very simple. The next big thing on the technology side has currencies front and center. Bitcoin is a currency and we are currency traders. So how can we not get excited about it! I will take it even further. What is it that draws us in to trade currencies? Well, I think you'd have to say you love the currency market because it is the largest market in the world, which means the best kind of liquidity. When you trade you want to know you are trading something that you can get in and out of quickly. You would also say you love it because it gives us a lot of volatility. What's the point in trading if you don't get volatility right? Ya ya....I know. The caveat of course is the market we've been in, which has killed vol. But overall, you catch my drift. And finally, you'd say you love FX because it never sleeps. The luxury of being able to access the market at any time of day is precious. All of these things make the currency market such an amazing market to trade. There are other things of course, but let's focus on these three.

If you like all of the things currency trading has to offer, you may want to consider taking a closer look at crytocurrency trading.

CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR - And now when we take another look at the cryptocurrency market and ask those same questions, the answers to all of them are resounding yeses. The size of the crypto market is making it a legitimate asset with tremendous liquidity potential. Indeed, there are challenges here right now, but there's not much arguing about the liquidity outlook considering all of the adoption. As far as volatility goes, well, do we really even need to talk about this one? There's more than any of us can handle right now. And last but not least, the accessibility factor. Crypto currencies don't know weekends or holidays. The crytocurrency world keeps on trucking through it all. Friday night, Saturday morning, Sunday, Christmas, New Year's Day. There is no resting. So again, you better watch out because with this one, you will get all the accessibility to have your family and friends hating you. Just as a reminder...I continue to look for a big bubble burst here, but bigger picture, the possibilities are amazing and they come with the benefit of being packaged with what looks to be the next great wave of technological advancement. How cool is that?

I am a seasoned currency strategist and professional trader. I have worked for investment banks, fixed income research advisories and a leading foreign exchange brokerage. In 2012, I set up JKonFX.com to offer my daily insights and trading strategies.